Walkman Lawsuit!!!

[Steven H]

When an inventor from Aachen sues a Japanese global corporation, you don’t expect him to have much of a chance. It was different in the case Andreas Pavel versus Sony. Following a 20-year legal dispute, the Japanese electronics giant is now prepared to pay the 59-year old German a million-figure sum. Pavel had already invented a portable cassette player called “Stereobelt” and registered the patent in several countries as early as 1977.

At about the same time, Sony was working on a similar device that went into production in 1979 and turned out to be a massive seller. In the first two years following its launch, the Walkman sold over 200 million units.

Patent holder Pavel hoped to settle with Sony founder Akio Morito out of court, but this failed and so Pavel took the case to a British court in 1989. His action was rejected and Pavel had to cover the legal costs amounting to three million euros. The inventor was not dismayed and wanted to sue Sony in other countries where he held the patent rights for the Stereobelt.

Three years ago, the company finally gave in and started negotiations with Pavel that has now led to an agreement and brought Pavel a fortune of several million euros.